This is the Hook, Line and Sinker aggregate page. Scroll down for videos and links to earlier reports. Catch a fish we should know about? Email Dan Radel at dradel@gannettnj.com or call 732-643-4072.

Plenty of party boats are geared up for Tuesday's sea bass season opener, which hopefully won't be too windy on the water.

There should be enough fish available on the rock piles, wreck and reefs. The presence of sea bass on the bottom structures has been observed by anglers participating in other fisheries for a couple weeks now.

Captain Willie Egeter of the Dauntless party boat was in 120 feet of water Monday and observed fishermen reel in sea bass that had to be tossed back. He said they will start in shallower 60 to 90 feet of water.

The local bottom fishing has been slow otherwise, paced by nominal catches of ling and cod.

The spring run of striped bass and bluefish is still leaving much to be desired but it may have broken open a little on Monday, at least on Sandy Hook.

Phil Sciortino at the Tackle Box in Hazlet said it anglers had a "non-stop" bite on the hook with stripers hitting clam baits. He reported a bass weighed in of 29 pounds by Jim Schaublin from Stockholm.

Grumpy's Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park reported a weigh-in of a 32-pound striped bass that was caught Friday by at Island Beach State Park.

The angler, Eric Emery, caught the bass casting a bucktail into the surf. The shop had a couple other bass and blues weighed in and said participation was up on the beaches over the weekend.

On the boats, Captain Tom Buban of the Atlantic Star party boat in Atlantic Highlands said he fished through some passing rain showers over the weekend.

"We had some on and off drizzle rain but it did not stop the people from fishing. We only had to make one stop. We picked all morning at a mix of shorts and keepers," said Buban.

Navy Training

Fishermen in the Raritan and Sandy Hook bays are advised that Naval Weapons Station Earle will conduct harbor protection exercises during the afternoon hours of May 15, 22, 29 and June 5, 12 and 19 in the waters surrounding the Navy’s pier in the Leonardo section of Middletown.

The trout fishing has slowed down somewhat since the rush to the streams following opening day in April.

On the Manasquan River anglers have zeroed in on the rainbow trout in the Squankum area, not too far from the 195 underpasses. Greg Bogan at Brielle Bait and Tackle said the anglers have been fishing with salmon eggs.

Scott Di Benedetto, of the West Allenhurst section of Ocean Township, hold s pickerel he caught on Deal Lake.(Photo: Courtesy of William McCudden)

He said some of his regular customers shared a bunch of trout they cooked in their smokers.

Bogan said the crappies and bass are biting in the ponds in Jackson and Howell. He's been selling a lot of fatheads and shiners to anglers going in that direction.

Trout fishing in Spring Lake has changed from live worm baits to spinners, phoebe lures and trout magnets. Bogan said anglers are pulling out catfish at night.

At Deal Lake anglers are catching pickerel and carp. Scott Di Benedetto, of the West Allenhurst section of Ocean Township, found the pickerel on the Wanamassa section of the lake. The report was sent in by Bill McCudden.

If you're willing to travel, the walleye, hybrid bass and yellow perch are biting at Lake Hopatcong, the state's largest freshwater lake.

Laurie Murphy at Dow's Boat Rentals on the lake said several walleye and hybrid bass were landed in the Great Cove and Nolans Point areas of the lake. She said fishermen had success trolling jointed bombers.

"Lots of yellow perch were found in shallower water also, hitting small herring or little jigs," said Murphy.

Mike Pinto at Giglio's Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright said the blues were in and out of the surf at North Beach on Sandy Hook. Fishermen also tied into the blues fishing Sandy Hook Bay in the Leonardo section of Middletown.

The blues are also funneling into Barnegat Bay and hitting in the Seaside to Island Beach surf, reported Ray Kerico at Grumpy's Bait and Tackle in Seaside Park.

Striped bass fishing was a bit frustrating at times, according to some of the boat captains. The fish have been there one day and gone the next.

After riding all over Raritan Bay on Thursday and coming up empty-handed, Ron Santee on the Fishermen party boat in Atlantic Highlands reported picking a few keeper bass on Sunday fishing with bait and shads.

Captain Howard Bogan Jr. on the 125-foot Jamaica party boat in Brielle called it "tough" fishing.

We landed a couple of bass within the first five minutes of fishing (Sunday)," said Bogan "We read fish in several areas all day but only had a few more bites the rest of the trip."

Fishermen got into a few striped bass in the Shrewsbury River, Pinto said. Steve White of Long Branch weighed in a 14-pound bass at Giglio's and Gene A'Mato of Hazlet brought in a 16 pounder.

The stripers are scattered and hitting on some beaches and in the inlets. There haven't been any big blitzes to speak of but there are more fishermen out trying.

CLOSE

Catches made by fishermen the week of May 3.
Wochit | Dan Radel

Delaware River shad run

On the opposite shoreline, the shad run has picked up. Steve Meserve at Lewis Fishery in Lambertville scored 168 shad in one haul on Thursday night, despite the extreme difficulty he and his crew had getting the net out.

Meserve said the wind changed on them and the river current sped up.

"All of a sudden we were fighting the river and the wind," said Meserve.

Their troubles weren't over there as the rope got tangled in the gear. Once they finally got things settled, Meserve said they managed to get all 200 yards of net out into an eddy and make the haul.